Rescue Me
by Nell Reed
Summary: Sequel to On Your Side. The team rescues Ziva! Warning: AU, OC and very small hints of Kibbs. Don't like? Don't read. R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing…wait, that's a lie. I own my OC and the rest of her family excluding Kate and her siblings/parents.

A/N: Spoilers for Aliyah. This is the sequel to my other story On Your Side. If you haven't read that, you might want to. It introduces my OC who'll be in my other NCIS fanfics. ALSO! I forgot to mention this is AU. If it wasn't, Ziva and Jenny wouldn't be in the story. Also, it's all written, so a chapter a day.

Chapter One

It had been well over two months since she had seen Anthony DiNozzo…or anyone else on the team for that matter. There were always two men standing guard outside of her door. They knew exactly who they were dealing with and weren't going to risk losing her out of fear of losing their own lives. She may have been beaten badly, her face may have been almost unrecognizable due to the bruises and cuts, but she was still a trained Mossad agent. A trained killer. Daughter of Mossad Director Eli David. _But where was he? Didn't they want to find her?_

Ziva had asked herself that many times. It's not like she had anything else to do. There were no reports to write up, no murders to investigate, no Tony to bicker with. No, nothing to do…except think. Examine memory, every decision, every idea that she could recall. Not to mention try to figure out some sort of escape plan.

She looks at her surroundings. They're pretty grim. She sits alone, tied to a chair, in the middle of a large, empty room. Sweat drips down her forehead and into her eyes, but she is unable to wipe it away. Both days and nights are brutal. She bakes during the days and freezes during the nights. Sleep does not come easily.

Her mind drifts back to Tony and Michael. She knew. She knew that Tony had been telling the truth when he told her he had killed Michael in self defense. She knew that Michael was bad news. But she loved him, but did he love her? Probably not. She knew from the start that he had probably only been using her. Tony hadn't made the mistake, she had. He was trying to protect her. He was trying to keep her safe and she shut him out. In Israel, she almost killed him. The gun was right over his heart and if she had wanted to, she could've blown it right out of his chest. And maybe she would have before she joined NCIS.

Her eyes close for a few minutes and she remembers the day she decided to stay in Israel. She grimaces as she imagines the sad and confused look on Tony's face when he saw that she had not accompanied Gibbs onto the plane. That hurt her. But what hurt her even more was the fact that Gibbs didn't even try to get her to stay. He just agreed and said good bye. There was no "We need you. Please come with us." At first, Ziva had thought it was better that way…it made parting easier. But in her heart, she knew it was worse. Though she had made the decision to stay, a feeling of abandonment had overwhelmed her when the plane was out of site. Did they miss her? Did they wish she was still with them?

_Staying behind was a mistake._ She thinks solemnly to herself. A sound echoes down the hall that leads up to the room she's being held in. A guard mutters something outside and footsteps are soon heard heading away from her room. The other man guarding her room shouts to the other man.

"Hey, where'd you go?" He asks in his native language. The guard receives no response. "Come on, that's not funny." He tries again. No response. Ziva hears him pull out his gun cautiously.

_It's probably nothing_. Ziva thinks. _Just a rat or something_. Suddenly, she hears another noise. It sounds like someone slammed really hard into a wall. She hears the guard closest to her door gasp and run away from the door.

"What happened? Are you alright?" The first guard asks the other. The guard that had gone to check out the noise is lying on the floor almost unconscious. He nose is bleeding heavily and several nasty bruises are beginning to form on the left side of his face. "Who did this to you?" The guard asks, but his friend does not answer …at least not at first.

"I" he gasps for air. "was attacked!" He slips into unconsciousness, leaving his buddy alone and slightly afraid. He wouldn't admit it, though. He's not that kind of guy. The man looks down the hallway. He isn't able to see anything, but that doesn't mean that no one's there. Piles of crates line the hallway, some almost up to the ceiling. The attacker or attackers could be hiding in one of those…or in one of the storage rooms off the hallway.

'Who's there?" He asks cautiously. He steps carefully to muffle his footsteps as he walks forward a few feet. "I said: Who's there! Show yourself!" He walks past the first pile of boxes. The lid to a large box with nothing piled on top of it slowly creeps open revealing a pair of grey eyes. A box a few feet ahead on the opposite side does the same and they make eye contact.

Suddenly, a box tumbles down off the top of one of the high piles and strikes the man. Before the guard can get up again, a man knocks him unconscious and throws him in one of the boxes. Someone finds some nails and a hammer and the man who knocked the guard unconscious locks him in the box.

"Come on! Let's go!" One of the men urges the rest of the team to move quickly.

Inside, Ziva's stomach grumbles loudly as she hangs her head. She hadn't heard the commotion outside and assumed that it was nothing. The guards had resumed their duty and she was still in hell. For a moment, she had thought that he heard Tony's voice, but she hadn't heard it again.

She raises her head when she hears a loud BANG against the door. It almost breaks off the hinges, but somehow manages to hang on. She hears someone running down the hall and watches as the door bursts open. Two people walk into the light.

2nd A/N: Also, I'm beta-ing my fics, so all mistakes are mine. Sorry if they make your eyes bleed.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Eh, the usual.

A/N: This chapter picks up exactly where the last chapter of On Your Side left off. I thought I'd be sad to not get any reviews? I'm not! It's so exciting.

Chapter Two

"Who's Ziva?" The young woman waits for an answer from her new teammates.

"A Mossad Liaison officer." Gibbs answers finally.

"Oh, that's cool. When does she come back? I'd like to meet her."

"You won't get to meet her. She's in Israel. She's not coming back." Tony responds sadly, walks over to his desk and sits down.

"So you kept her desk just in case she ever decided to come back…?"

"Yes." Abby responds. "She's always welcome here."

The bullpen falls back into an awkward silence. That is, until the director appears at the top of the stairs. Abby says goodbye and goes back to her lab.

"Jethro, a word please." He walks up the stairs and they disappear into her office.

"I'm…going to finish this report." McGee quickly sits down at his desk and starts to work on the report that he doesn't have. He's secretly working on his new novel.

Kate leads her cousin over to her desk and on the way over, Rubix grabs her Rubik's cube. Kate sits down in her chair and Rubix climbs atop the desk. Kate looks over to Tony, then McGee and finally to Ziva's desk. She wonders what the other woman's doing. _Will she ever come back? Is she happy in Israel? Does she miss us?_ Sure, Kate and Ziva hadn't seen eye to eye on everything; she still missed her. She missed Ziva's take on American sayings. But mostly she missed having a partner to gang up on Tony with. The door to the Director's office opens and Gibbs steps out. Kate and Rubix watch him as he descends the stairs; file in hand.

"Grab your gear, we got a case." He commands. Everybody hurries to get ready; gathering up the necessities. Rubix watches as Kate quickly slides a gun into the holster conveniently placed on her hip.

"I don't have a gun or a kit, sir. What should I do?" Gibbs reaches into his desk and pulls out an extra gun.

"Are you even allowed to carry a gun?"

"Yes sir. I learned how to shoot one when I worked in Vegas." She nods and he places it carefully into her hands. "Thank you, sir."

"There're extra kits in the truck. You can use one of those until-"

"I have my own kit. I left it in Vegas until I could find a place and get settled. I'll send for it tonight."

Five minutes later, everyone is standing outside of the truck. McGee has a large smile plastered on his face, as does Kate.

"But Boss! I've got seniority!" He whines. "I should get to sit in front." Gibbs tries to hide a smirk. He's enjoying this. He shakes his head and gets into the driver's seat. Kate smiles as she opens the passenger door and slides in, followed by Rubix. _I'm sorry, Anthony._ She mouths through the window.

"Yeah sure." He says as we walks into the back of the van. McGee is already seated, still smiling. Tony's head appears in the window located behind Kate's head. "You better drive good. I don't want to be thrown around back here. I'll have you know, I'm wearing a very expensive suit and-" He is cut off when Gibbs slams the window shut.

"I really don't mind sitting back there." The newest agent offered. Kate and Gibbs both look at her.

"No." They answer simultaneously.

"You may not think Tony deserves this," she points to the back. "But wait a little while, he does."

Rubix shrugs and buckles her seatbelt. As soon as it clicks, she and Kate are thrown back as Gibbs floors it. The tires screech as he cuts off a car while rounding a corner.

"I think you should slow down, sir."

"Stop calling me sir."

"I think you should slow down."

"No." A thump comes from the back of the van followed by a yell and a whimper.

"When are we going to get those seatbelts installed back there?" Kate asks. She had been asking that question ever since McGee joined the team. Each time she got the same answer: We're not. She insisted on asking, though.

"There aren't any seatbelts and you're making them sit back there?! That's illegal. The fine is…" She is silenced when Gibbs takes a sharp turn to the left, causing Rubix to be sandwiched between Kate and the window. She groans as Kate pulls herself off of her cousin.

"You'll get used to his driving." Gibbs stops short and everyone flies forward. "I take that back. You won't."

"Let's go. We're here." He opens the door and steps out. Rubix opens her door and immediately falls to her knees

"YES!" she shouts. "LAND! I'M ALIVE!" Seconds later, the back of the truck bursts open and Tony stumbles out. They look at each other. "WE'RE ALIVE!" They shout.

"You two finished? Grab your kits!" Gibbs commands as he walks down the walkway to the front door. The other four follow behind. By the time they enter, Gibbs has already taken a seat and is talking to the grieving widow. Her face is wet and she wipes some snot away from her nose.

"I'm sorry." She says softly. "It's just so much to take in. I don't know what I'm going to do without him." Gibbs doesn't seem all too interested in what the young woman's saying. His gut feeling: She's guilty. He can tell. He's good like that.

Tony calls the other three agents into a huddle.

"Okay, team. Kate, you do a sketch of the room. McGee, take pictures. I'll collect evidence." The agents disperse and do their assigned jobs. Tony stops when he sees the newest addition to the team collecting evidence. He stops. "What are you doing?" He asks.

"Collecting evidence."

"Um, no. You're just going to observe today because-" He is cut off when Gibbs enters the room.

"DiNozzo, what are you doing?"

"Just trying to teach the new probie."

"Don't. She's probably more qualified than you. Are you?"

"CSI Level 3, sir."

"That's what I thought." The younger agent raises her eyebrows and smiles at Tony as she grabs her kit and walks to the other side of the room.

They continue to work until a commotion is heard from the kitchen. The wife of the dead petty officer bolts out the door and down the sidewalk. She disappears.

"What the hell just happened?" Asks Tony.

"We just lost our main suspect." Answers Gibbs.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimers: The usual.

A/N: I am not good at romance. At all. I'm putting in a little effort here though and if you pay attention I hint at Kibbs. HINT. You will not get anything explicit. Most of it's stuff you'll pick up in their conversations. It may be more out there in future stories I write, but not much in this. I'm sorry if I disappointed you. Just bear with me, m'kay? THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEW!

Chapter Three

"Wow, guys. What'd you do? Take the whole house?" The happy lab rat asks as she watches the team haul boxes upon boxes of evidence into her lab. Gibbs walks in with his share of the boxes and somehow manages to sneak a Caf-Pow in too.

"You know, you could go out to the van and grab some evidence."

"Uh…no." She finds the Caf-Pow and begins to take large sips.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Tony rolls his eyes.

Everyone crowds into the elevator, ready to start working immediately on finding every little detail they can on the dead officer and his wife. It's the details that matter in this job, you know? Something as seemingly insignificant as where someone gets their dry cleaning done can explain a lot. The elevator door opens and the team disperses to their desks and begin to work furiously. McGee pulls phone records, Kate pulls up in going and outgoing emails and Tony looks up family history. Rubix had stayed downstairs to help Abby with all of the evidence. Abby didn't complain about having someone to help her this time. She wasn't like Chip. Kate's cousin was not going to frame Tony for murder and try to attack her. Abby could tell that she wasn't like that. There was a reason she never liked Chip.

Gibbs sits at his desk and works as he observes his team. He smirks and shakes his head at Tony and Kate's bickering. Sometimes it was annoying, but when he was in a good mood, it could be hilarious. He really did feel like a high school principal sometimes. McGee sighs and rolls his eyes at his coworkers' immaturity. He secretly enjoys their company.

"Hey!" Gibbs shouts when Tony and Kate start to hurl balls of paper at each other. "That's enough. Get back to work!" They both apologize and continue to sneak dirty looks at each other. Tony turns his attention to McGee.

"Hey, hey! McProbie! It's your turn to pick up dinner!"

"I'm working, Tony." McGee answers sternly.

"Leave him alone, Tony." Kate warns.

"No! I'm hungry." He whines and rubs his empty stomach.

"Go get your own food."

"Fine." Tony pouts. "I'll get the food." And he stalks out of the bullpen.

Down in the lab, Abby and her new friend are processing evidence. They're both singing along with the music that Abby's blasting. Abby looks at her watch.

"I'm going to go home. There's nothing more we can do tonight." The lab rat yawns. "Thanks for helping." They walk into the elevator together. Abby gets out and walks to her car. "See you tomorrow!" She calls without turning around. The door slides closed and moves to the third floor.

She rounds and enters the bull pen. The only light is coming from four computer screens…four desks…three people. Where is Gibbs? Who knows. Does anybody really know where Gibbs goes all the time? No, not really. Kate and McGee are fading fast.

"I'm gonna take a quick nap, guys." McGee announces with a yawn. Tony, Kate and Rubix mutter their goodnights and continue working. Kate pushes her wheelie chair back and rubs her eyes.

"Kate. Hey, I'll take over from here. You get some sleep."

"Alright, but only a cat nap. Wake me up in thirty minutes."

"Sure thing, cousin." She lies.

It is 1:33am. The only light in the bullpen is the light from Tony's and Kate's computer screen. McGee's head is resting on his desk and he snores softly. Kate sleeps silently behind her desk which is occupied by Rubix who is using her computer because she doesn't have one yet. Everything is silent except for the tapping from the computer keyboards.

Tony stops typing, looks over to Ziva's desk, shakes his head and continues typing again.

"You miss her a lot, don't you?" the younger agent asks softly.

"Hm?"

"I said: You miss her a lot, don't you? Ziva, I mean." Tony looks at her, scoffs and looks away. He begins to type harder.

"No, I don't." It's Rubix's turn to scoff now.

"That's a lie."

"It is not. She doesn't miss me either." They both stop typing and the young woman leans back her Kate's chair.

"Tell me about her." Tony thinks for a moment.

"She's smart and dangerous and that's about it. Oh, she's funny to, but she doesn't mean to be. She mixes up words, like this one time when she was trying to say porcupine, but said 'porcuswine' instead." Tony laughs.

"You totally don't miss her." she rolls her eyes. "Why is she dangerous?"

"She's Mossad. She's practically a trained assassin."

"I see. Got any pictures?" Tony reaches down and opens a drawer. He shifts a few supplies around and finally sits back up again. By the time he's done looking, Rubix is already sitting on his desk playing with his Rubik's cube.

"Whoa, that was very Gibbs-like." She raises her eyebrows. "Here." He hands her the small picture. It's from a crime scene a few years ago. Tony had the camera and took a picture of her when she wasn't expecting it. She told him to delete and believe he had. He hadn't. Rubix looked to Tony, whose smile had faded. He was off thinking about something else.

"Hey, hey. Stay with me." She snaps in his face and he comes back to reality.

"Sorry, I was thinking."

"Dear God, don't hurt yourself."

"It's just…she hasn't answered any of my emails or phone calls and it could just be because she's mad at me, but I'm getting the feeling she's in trouble."

"You seem pretty desperate. Can't you just MTAC her?" Tony looks up.

"I'm not crazy enough to MTAC the Director of Mossad."

"You sure?"

"You're right! I am!" He bolts up the stairs and Rubix follows him. By the time she enters the room, he's already at the control panel pressing buttons. A giant screen turns on and a middle aged man appears on the screen.

"Anthony DiNozzo." He greets with an accent.

"I'm sorry for the unscheduled call, Director, but I want to ask you something." He starts to get nervous.

"And what would that be?" Director David asks.

"I just want to make sure that Ziva's okay." The Director scowls and looks away for a moment.

"She's on a mission. That's all I can say." He lifts his arm to turn off the screen.

"She's not alright is she?" The Director pauses.

"Why do you want to know, it is none of your business."

"Ziva was my friend. I'm concerned. Humor me."

"I cannot tell you anything more than that she was last heard from off the coast of Somalia about four weeks ago. The team she was with has not seen nor heard from her in four weeks. It appears she has been kidnapped. I must go. Good bye, DiNozzo." He disappears off of the screen and Rubix steps out of one of the shadows. She puts a hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him.

"I'm sorry, Tony." He doesn't say a word. He turns off the screen and they walk out of MTAC together. Tony rests his head on his desk and Rubix takes a seat behind Kate's desk once again. She looks up the time difference between D.C. and Somalia and looks at her watch.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimers: Everything belongs to their respective owners.

A/N: I was looking at a map of the area that Israel is located in…and it's small, but it looks like they have access to the Red Sea. If my geography's wrong, I'm sorry. Just imagine that they went around the whole continent of Africa, I guess. Also, I was _convinced_ that I did not update last night, and I was worry about that as I was puking. I must've been really out of it. Anyway, enjoy! And review, please?

Chapter Four

"If you're going to be doing this on a regular basis, somebody's going have to teach you how to do this. Don't think you can wake me up all the time to contact…who are you contacting anyway?" Kate yawns groggily.

"Brian. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you too."

Kate raises her eyebrows. "You need MTAC to talk to your brother?"

"I do when he's in a ship off the coast of Somalia." She scoffs.

"You could just use a webcam! You don't need MTAC." Kate scolds, but continues pressing the appropriate buttons.

A few minutes pass before the younger agent thinks of an excuse. "If I'm going to talk to him, I'm going to do it in style."

Except for the sound of Kate pressing buttons, the room is silent. The screen lights up and Kate stands beside her cousin as they wait. Lilly hums happily as she waits patiently for her brother to appear on the screen. Becoming bored, she picks up singing where she left off humming.

"_Oh I'm in love with your daughter._ _I wanna have her baby_." Kate turns to her and gives her a strange look. "_Oh I'm in love with your daughter._ _So can I please?_" The screen brightens and a young man is seen squinting. His black hair is messy like he just rolled out of bed.

"Lilly?" He asks as he uses his left hand to push the hair out of his eyes.

"Kate's here too." She responds. He looks in Kate's direction and she waves.

"Where are you? Do I want to know?"

"Very funny. I'm at NCIS in Washington D.C. I need a favor." He rolls his eyes and sits back in his chair.

"Ask someone else. Ask Julia or something." Lilly scowls at the mention of her older sister and shakes her head.

"Ha, funny. Julie hates me, you know that."

"There's not much I can do for you out here in the Gulf of Aden." He retorts sarcastically.

"Actually, you can." She smiles.

"Whatever you're planning, Lilly, it's probably illegal. I want no part in it. It was nice seein' you, Kate." He moves to disconnect the session.

"Seen any Israeli ships recently?"

"Israeli?" Kate questions.

He draws his hand back and narrows his eyes. "I take it that's a yes." She continues. He doesn't answer. "I need to know what happened to that ship, Brian."

"They came down the Red Sea and passed in between Yemen and Djibouti into the Gulf of Aden a few weeks ago. They left the gulf and entered into the Indian Ocean. One night they're on the radar, the next morning they're not. Some of the locals have said that a terrorist organization has them. Why do you want to know?"

"They have a friend." He chuckles.

"Lilly, you don't have any friends."

"She's a friend of NCIS. She means a lot to these people."

"So you want me to just walk off the ship into Somalia and look for this _friend_ that's not even a _friend_ of yours?"

"No. _I_ would like to walk off the ship and look for her." He begins to laugh and it takes him a few moments to stop. Lilly glares at him.

"You can't just fly over to the ship." He says as he wipes a few tears away from his eyes, still smiling.

"Why not?"

"It's not allowed. We don't just allow civilians to fly here. And even if you could, it's too dangerous." Lilly pouts.

"But wait, what if…"

"This conversation is over." Her brother says in a fatherly tone and he moves to turn off the screen. "It was nice talking to you. You too, Kate." He nods.

"Watch your back. Dad'll probably be after you." The young woman warns and grabs the remote to turn off the screen from Kate. Brian begins to ask her what she means, but is cut off when the screen goes dark.

"_That's _what you've been scheming about? You've been here all of two days and you're already planning some huge rescue mission?"

"You miss Ziva, don't you?" Kate did miss Ziva, but definitely not as much as Gibbs or Tony did. One night, while working on the boat in the basement with Gibbs, he had confided in her that he really missed Ziva. Of course, he had had a little too much bourbon because he wouldn't have shared that information if he had been sober. Tony was a little more obvious. He sulked for weeks after Ziva left. He seemed better now, though. Of course, there were moments when Kate would catch him on the edge of tears because he had seen someone drive as obnoxiously as _her_ or mess up idioms and phrases just like _she_ did. He looked like a sad puppy. It was a little depressing.

"I do miss her."

"If you were kidnapped by Somali terrorists would she save you?"

Kate contemplates for a moment. She almost answers no, but changes at the last moment. She thinks of all the crime scenes they've processed together and the jokes they've shared. What she remembers most is when Ziva killed her own brother to save Gibbs. She hadn't even known Gibbs then…imagine what she'd do for him now. That's why Kate changed her answer.

"What do you need?"

Rubix smiles.

"Nothing right now. We may be taking a trip in the near future, though." Lilly raises her eyebrows at Kate and Kate raises hers back.

"Brian just said no…"

"Kate, how long have you known me?"

"Nineteen years. Why?"

"What do I always have?"

"An undying urge to sing?" Kate laughs.

"True. What _else_ do I always have?"

Kate pauses to think.

"A Plan B."

"BINGO!" Lilly gives a thumbs up.

"So what, pray tell, is Plan B?"

Lilly pulls out her cell phone and looks up a number. "I'm calling in a favor from one of the two FBI agents that I trust."

"You trust the FBI?" Kate asks surprised.

"I said two."

"Alright, which one are you calling?"

"Special Agent Pendergast." She smiles as she walks out of MTAC and dials the number. When Kate leaves the room, Lilly is gone. Aside from that, everything else is the same as when they left it to contact Brian. Tony is still sleeping in his chair with his head resting on the back. His neck will hurt him tomorrow and he will complain about it, but before he does that, he will compare it to some obscure movie he saw when he was in college. Tim is still sleeping behind his desk. Gibbs is still gone. _Probably working on his boat_. Kate thinks and smiles at the thought of it. Normally, she would join him, but she was still readjusting to life with her cousin and didn't want to have the conversation of where she disappeared to at one o'clock in the morning with her.

Kate silently returns to the makeshift bed behind her desk and drifts to sleep.

A/N 2: From now on, all song lyrics will be in italics. The song in this chapter was Somedays by Regina Spektor. Also, Special Agent Pendergast (in case you didn't know) is a character in several novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child and he pretty much owns.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimers: The usual.

A/N: I'm not an Anthony DiNozzo expert. Therefore, I don't really know his back story. I looked him up on the wiki. If the information's wrong, I'm sorry. Also, I realize that FBI Agent Culpepper was in CSI during season one and that doesn't really line up with when she was there…so…that's AU. Don't kill me. Review please!

ALSO, I guess there was some confusion about my OC. Lilly and Rubix = the same person. Tony only usually calls her Rubix now, though. It didn't really stick with the others, I guess. They don't say her name a lot. It's usually just "HEY YOU!" Anyway, sorry if that was unclear. My apologies.

Chapter Five

Five days later, the team is celebrating at Kate's apartment. Everybody and I mean _everybody_ is there. Even Palmer and the Director are there. The boxes of Lilly's things are unpacked and stowed in the former guest bedroom which now belongs to her.

"You guys," Tony stands up and digs into his coat pocket. He pulls out…a DVD. What a surprise. "I have a movie!" Everyone groans and several roll their eyes. He looks at the DVD cover and reaches back into his coat pocket. "Fine, you don't like that movie? I've got more." He pulls out several more DVDs and the team realizes that there is no escaping this. They finally decided on some drama movie that came out a few years ago.

Abby grabs some popcorn from the bowl on McGee's lap as they watch the antagonists hack a computer. McGee scoffs.

"What's wrong, Probie? See something you don't like?" Tony desperately tries to defend his movie.

"Relax, Tony. First of all, that's not how you hack a computer. Second of all, at the rate they're going the government would've already had a trace on their location and the FBI would probably…" Abby cuts him off as she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls herself close to him.

"You're right, McGee! You could totally do a better job than those terrorists." A deep red spreads across his face and nobody tries to hide their smirks.

By the end of the movie, the only people still awake are Tony, Lilly and Gibbs. McGee and Abby are asleep on the love seat, Palmer sleeps sitting up with his head resting on the arm of the couch and Ducky is sleeping in the recliner. The couch is occupied by Kate, Gibbs and Jen. Gibbs is in the middle. He looks at Kate, whose head is resting on his shoulder.

Lilly watches as Tony gets up and takes the disk out of the DVD player and puts it into its case. He returns to his seat next to her. They sit in between the couch and the love seat. Lilly looks back to Gibbs whose arm is now around Kate's shoulders. She raises her eyebrows in surprise and turns to Tony to get his attention. She taps his arm and points back to the couch with her chin. He smiles and begins to think of ways to torture Kate with this information.

"Are you tired?" she mouths to him. He shakes his head and moments later, is being led into the kitchen.

"We should be able to talk in here without waking them up." She tells him as she opens the refrigerator and pulls out a carton of orange juice.

"What's the deal with Gibbs and Kate?"

"There is no "deal," Tony."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, sure. If there were something going on, would you tell me?"

The young agent smiles. "Probably not."

They sit in silence for a few moments.

"So, Rubix, what did you do before NCIS?"

"I've already told you. I was a CSI in Las Vegas." She takes a seat at the kitchen table and Tony joins her. He takes the chair next to hers.

"Well, tell me about it."

Lilly takes a sip of her orange juice and thinks. "I'll tell you. But it's gonna have to be quid pro quo. I tell you something and you tell me something." Tony nods in agreement and urges her to continue. "I graduated high school at fifteen and was accepted at UNLV. I majored in forensics. I got an internship at the lab and after it was up, they offered me a full time job even though I hadn't graduated yet. I moved levels quickly and by the time I left I was a level three. Quid pro quo, DiNozzo. You're up."

"I was a cop in Baltimore for two years before I came here. Uh…that's about it."

"Not it's not. Where were you before Baltimore? Where'd you go to college."

"Before Baltimore, I pretty much just jumped from PD to PD. I was all over the place. I graduated from Ohio State. Alright, your turn."

"Wrong. I assume you were part of a fraternity."

A smile spreads across his face and he nods gleefully. "I was a member of Alpha Chi Delta and my pledge name was Sex Machine." He states proudly. He stares off into space for a few moments before realizing it's not his turn anymore. "Your turn." He smiles.

"What do you want to know?"

"Where did you live?"

"I lived in the dorms for a year and a half and after my internship ended, I lived with Sara Sidle. She was my coworker and is one of my best friends. I have a lot of good friends over there. My boss, Grissom, he's great. He's quiet and smart. He loves bugs. He even has a pet tarantula."

"There must've been people you didn't like."

"I only met three people that I didn't like. The Undersheriff, a cop named Sophia Curtis and Special Agent Culpepper of the FBI." At the mention of the FBI, Tony sticks out his tongue and makes a face.

"I've never met an FBI agent I could trust."

"I only trust two. You're up again."

"What do you want to know?" Lilly thinks for a moment.

"Got a girlfriend?"Tony is taken aback. He didn't think she'd ask that. Tony shakes his head. "I find that hard to believe. Tell me about your past girlfriends, then. All of them." She adds.

He raises his eyebrows. "You make it sound like I've had hundreds." She raises her eyebrows challenging his statement. "Well," he begins. "There was Lieutenant Pam Kim. She…was interesting. Posted me on the Herpes Alert website." He scowls for a moment. "Uh…Paula Cassidy…" He names off more women.

"I take it they didn't last very long."

He shakes his head no and stares off into space for a few moments. He is brought back by the snapping in his face.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"The one that lasted the longest. Her name was Jeanne."

"John?" She questions. "Like a guy?"

"No, she was French. It's spelled J-E-A-N-N-E."

"Even if she was a guy, it wouldn't be the first one you've tongued." The younger agent smiles mischievously.

"How do you know…Never mind. Moving on. She was the daughter of an arms dealer. Director Shepard ordered me to form a relationship with her. And then…I had to break it off. Had to tell her it was all a lie."

"You loved her." He nods. "So, the Director _ordered_ you to involve her romantically? That doesn't seem very professional. How'd she weasel her way out of that one?"

"She almost didn't. The FBI put us on lockdown so they could investigate the entire unit. They almost pinned the murder of Jeanne's father on her. Then…she got in a gun fight, almost died. They pretty much left her alone after that. Much to the dismay of Assistant Director Vance." Tony smirks.

"What a team. We've got a director with some sort of personal agenda, a goth, a computer geek, a bastard, a nice Catholic girl and a former womanizer."

Tony is insulted. "What makes you think I'm a _former_ womanizer and not a _current_ womanizer."

She shrugs. "I just know. Just like I know that you love Ziva."

"I'm…going to sleep." He gets up and makes his way back to his spot on the floor next to the love seat.

"Good night, Anthony." She says as he walks out of the kitchen. Feeling hungry, she heats up some left over pasta in the microwave. After a little parmesan cheese is added to it, she sits down and begins to eat. Suddenly, she is interrupted by the vibrating of her cell phone on the table. She grabs it as it slides over a few inches and checks the caller ID. It's someone she's been expecting. She grabs her keys and walks out of the apartment, leaving her pasta and orange juice still on the table. She answers the phone.

"Finally! Where have _you_ been?"


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimers: The usual.

A/N: This may be the last update until August 1st or 2nd. I may or may not have internet access or time. Sorry. :/

Chapter Six

It is 9:32am and Anthony D. DiNozzo is the only person in the apartment who is awake. He rolls his head around, allowing his neck to crack several times and stands up. He surveys the room. Kate and Gibbs are leaning awkwardly on each other, Ducky's still asleep in the chair and Abby's resting on McGee's shoulder. The Director is still sleeping on the right side of Gibbs and Palmer has fallen back and is sleeping on the floor. There's someone missing: Lilly. Tony walks into the kitchen, Kate's bedroom, the former guest bedroom and the bathroom. No such luck. He shrugs and walks back into the kitchen.

Without Kate's permission, he begins to make himself (and nobody else) breakfast. An omelet with cheese, ham and a bunch of other ingredients no normal person would even think to put in an omelet. Kate hears someone moving around in the kitchen and carefully untangles herself from Gibbs to see what the noise is. She walks in to see her partner stuffing his face with food. Her food.

"What are you doing?" She asks wearily. Her voice is rough and her eyes haven't fully adjusted yet.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm eating." He talks with his mouth open. Typical DiNozzo. "Rubix's gone." He adds. "Know where she is?" He sounds a little worried.

"Don't worry about it. She probably went out to get some more orange juice. She's only been here about a week and we've already gone through two orange juice cartons. I hate the stuff." She puts the coffee grinds in the coffee making and leans against the counter as she waits for the coffee.

"I see she's already settled in." He nods to her bedroom.

"You went in her bedroom?"

"I was looking for her and I couldn't find her." Kate rolls her eyes. A shuffling sound comes from the other room and Tony and Kate both look to the doorway to see Ducky, who is looking a little disheveled.

"Ah, good morning, Caitlin! You too, Anthony! Thank you for the wonderful night, but I best be going." He's so polite.

"You sure? I'm just making coffee and I was just about to get started on breakfast." Kate tries to convince him to stay…

"I'm sorry, I must go. I'm supposed to go visit my mother today. I shouldn't be late."

"She probably wouldn't know. It's not like she'd remember what time you were supposed to show up." Tony smirks as he stuffs another bite of his omelet into his mouth. Kate punches his arm and he draws back in pain.

"Ouch." Ducky scowls at him.

"Good bye, Caitlin."

"Bye, Ducky. Thanks for coming." She waves as exits the kitchen and the front door is soon heard opening and closing. "That was unnecessary." She glares at Tony. He shrugs. The coffee machine beeps and Kate pours a glass for herself and Tony.

He takes a sip and makes a face.

"Ugh, this is Gibbs coffee." He complains with his tongue hanging out. Kate smiles as she sips hers.

"It's not that bad."

"Yes it is." Tony nods, eyes wide.

"You get used to it." Tony eyes her suspiciously and opens his mouth to ask her another question, but is interrupted when Palmer stumbles into the room.

"Is Dr. Mallard still here?" Kate and Tony shake their heads and Palmer looks a little distressed. "He was my ride home." He whines.

"I'm sure someone'll give you a ride home." Palmer nods, feeling a bit better. Jen joins him in the door way.

"Thanks for having me over, Kate. It was fun. See you on Monday." Kate walks her out and returns to her previous spot in the kitchen. Tony begins to tease Palmer. When he looks down to take a bite of his omelet, he realizes that it's gone. He looks around and sees Kate moving away from the drawer so Gibbs can get a fork.

"But…that's my-'' Tony starts but is silenced by Kate's death glare. "Never mind." He sits and pouts in his chair. "Hey, how do you know where the forks…" They both glare at him. "Never mind." He watches as Gibbs takes bites of the omelet. _His_ omelet.

A few minutes later, Palmer, Abby and McGee all leave together. It takes some coaxing and threatening, but Tony eventually leaves too. Kate turns to Gibbs and opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted when she hears the door open and Lilly walks into the kitchen.

"Sit." She commands. They just stare at her. "Please?"

"Does this have something do to with…?" Kate begins to ask but her cousin shushes her. She waits until they are seated and she has their full attention.

"I have a plan." She states. "I've seen how much Ziva means to the team and I want to help get her back."

"If Ziva wants to come back, she can come back on her own." Gibbs rises.

"Sit down, sir." He complies, which is a surprise. "As I was saying…no, she can't. She's currently being held prisoner in Somalia."

"She's Mossad's problem. Why don't they go get her?"

"They're not going to get her. At least not anytime soon. Have you been paying attention to Tony recently? Have you seen him? He's depressed. I've only been here a week and even I can tell that."

"Alright, Special Agent Todd. What's this big rescue plan?" He asks, not expecting much. "How are you going to get over there?"

"First of all, I was kind of hoping it would be a 'we' and not 'me' going over there. I got a call this morning from my friend Special Agent Pendergast. He's able to lend us a plane and a pilot that can fly us over there. He owes me one."

"Special Agent? What is he? FBI? You can never trust those guys. So we land and then what? We fly blind?" Gibbs is skeptical.

Ignoring the insult to her friend, she says, "I have plans for the camp she's being held in. I've studied them. Found the best entry points and routes to the bunker thing she's in." She pulls a few large pictures out of her jacket. "This is it." She arranges the pictures so they make one large picture of the camp. Kind of like a puzzle. Cool, huh? She points to a large stone building. "This is it. This is where she is. What do you say? Are you in?"

A/N: Also, unfortunately, Special Agent Pendergast will not _appear_ in this story. He'll only be mentioned. He'll appear in another, though. Possibly more than one. I wish I owned him, but alas, I do not. He's owned by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. He appears in the novels: Relic, Reliquary, The Cabinet of Curiosities, Still Life With Crows, Brimstone, The Dance of Death, The Book of the Dead, Wheel of Darkness, and Cemetery Dance. He's super cool.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: -sigh- You know. Everything belongs to their rightful owners.

A/N: Sorry for being gone so long. I thought I was going to be able to update because my friend was able to connect to the internet…and then she got a virus and her computer died and we were both very sad. Ta-da!

Chapter Seven

"This is strange. Something's up." DiNozzo states as he looks through a window.

"Tony!" McGee calls, but Tony doesn't listen.

"Come on, Tony. Gibbs'll kill you if he sees you." Suddenly, the door opens and Kate appears.

"Hey, guys." She smiles.

"Where's Gibbs?" Abby asks. Kate points to the window Tony is sitting under. The window slides up and two hands grab Tony by the collar and drag him into the house. Kate leads Tim and Abby into the basement. The boat is gone. In its place is a large wooden table covered in pictures and papers.

"What's this?" Tony asks from behind them. "Where's the famous boat I always hear about?" Gibbs gives him a shove and he stumbles down the stairs to join the others.

"Gibbs, what's going on?" He hands her a Caf-Pow and walks by and stands next to the youngest agent. She looks up.

"Hey. Take a seat." They all grab chairs and are soon settled. "Alright, listen up. Kate, Gibbs and I are going to rescue Ziva and I just wanted to know if you guys are in." McGee raises his hand. "Yes…?"

"What do you mean 'rescue?' Is she okay?" He asks.

"Of course she's not okay. That's why I said 'rescue.' If I hadn't, I would've just said 'we're going on a trip to Israel.'"

Abby stands.

"I'm in." She states. "What do you need me to do?"

"Right now we need you to listen, Abbs." Gibbs states and Abby salutes and sits down. Gibbs nods to Lilly who begins again.

"Ziva is currently being held captive…" She points to a map behind her. "here. In Somalia, but more specifically here." She points to the satellite pictures. "In this bunker thing." She takes a permanent marker and circles it. "I called in a favor from my friend and he's set us up with a jet and a pilot to fly us there and back."

"That's quite a favor." Tim declares.

She shrugs. "He owed me big time."

Tony begins to look around the room to distract himself. He doesn't want to get his hopes up about the rescue.

Tim raises his hand again and Lilly calls on him.

"I was just thinking…I'd probably be more help here than there. I mean, I could…help Abby hack video cameras and we could report to you who's coming and when the coast is clear. I'd just slow you guys down. I'll…" Tim continues his babbling while the rest of the team just stares at him.

"Tim."

He continues telling reasons why he shouldn't go.

"TIM." Abby nudges him. "We were planning on having you stay anyway."

"Oh." He's surprised. "Thank you."

Tony rolls his eyes at his coworker's cowardly behavior.

"Abby, you'll stay behind and…" Gibbs begins to fill her in on her duties. He tells them that he, Kate and Lilly will be travelling to Israel and infiltrating the camp.

"Alright, let's get to work." Tim and Abby leave in search of a computer powerful enough for the job they're about to do. Gibbs brings Kate upstairs to teach her about the weapons they'll be bringing with them. Lilly stares at the satellite pictures with her back to Tony, who is still seated at the table.

"What's my job?" He asks and she turns to him.

"You're staying here with Abby and McGee." He stands up and his chair falls back.

"No, I want to go to Israel." She walks over to him and stands close.

"If you're going to sulk around like some sad puppy, then you'll get us all killed over there. I can't promise you're going to be safe or even make it back."

"What do you mean 'sad puppy?'" He pouts.

"My God. Just look at yourself in the mirror. You've got dark circles under your eyes; you haven't slept in weeks. Your clothes are baggy; you haven't been eating. Need I go on?" He shakes his head no.

"I'm going with you." She leads him upstairs into the guest bedroom Gibbs is showing the weapons to Kate in. Lilly opens the door to see…Gibbs hand a machete to Kate, who's looking a bit flushed. Lilly notices this and eyes them suspiciously. He clears his throat.

"You want this?" He asks and she takes it. He turns to Lilly. "What do you want?"

"I already have everything I need. I'm packed."

"You are?" Kate asks.

"Whatcha got?" Asks Gibbs.

"Well, a machete, an axe, a 50 caliber shotgun and a whip."

A smiles spreads across Tony's face. "A whip? Really? You don't seem like an S&M girl to me…"

"Because I'm not."

"Then why do you have a whip?"

"I acquired it from a certain biker named Sex Machine a couple months ago." She smiles. That didn't help her argument at all.

Tony's going to tease her about it later.

"Enough, you two." Tony is pulled out of his day dream and receives a head slap. "What do you want, Tony?" Gibbs leads him over to the closet full of various weapons. Tony looks like a kid in a candy store. "Never mind. I'm picking yours out for you." Gibbs grabs a few things and throws them in a pile on the guest bed. Tony lies down.

"Kate, Rubix, I called you guys last night. Where were you?" Kate and her cousin look at each other and Lilly raises her eyebrows. Gibbs stays silent.

"I…I was here…preparing."

Tony sits up.

"What? Where did you sleep?"

"In here. Lilly slept on the couch."

"Caitlin Todd, this bed hasn't been used in FOREVER!" Gibbs turns around, machete in hand, looking like he's about to kill poor DiNozzo. Oh dear, this could be the end of our lovely, annoying and promiscuous friend.

Abby and Tim enter the room before he can push the subject further.

"We have everything we need! Where can we set up?" Abby takes a sip from the Caf-Pow as McGee struggles to hold all of the equipment.

"I'll show you." Kate places her hand on Abby's shoulder and takes a box from McGee. They disappear through down the hall. Tony lies back down and Lilly and Gibbs continue packing.

"What did your friend owe you for?" Tony asks.

"I helped him out with a case my first year in Vegas. Got a little more than I bargained for. He still feels guilty…he shouldn't, though."

Tony leaves it at that, knowing he'll just get the details some other time.

A/N: The biker I mentioned is from the movie From Dusk Till Dawn. Just felt like throwin' him in there, because he's cool.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimers: You know 'em.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. :D This is the second to last chapter, so I hope you've enjoyed it.

Chapter Eight

Then

Tony looked at the clocked for the fifth time in six minutes and sighed. Time seemed to be moving so slow. Why couldn't they leave now? The faster they got to Ziva, the better.

"Psst! Boss!"

Gibbs glared at him for the fifth time in six minutes. Why his second in command insisted on bothering him every chance he got he'd never know. They'd be leaving soon enough.

They had spent hours preparing. It wasn't only packing. You had to know how to use the weapons you would be carrying or else they wouldn't really be useful, not to mention detrimental. Seriously. Stop and think for a moment. Could you see Tony wielding some sort of dangerous weapon without knowing how to use it? Scary, huh? Yeah, I thought so too.

Gibbs watched as Tony spun around in his swivel chair for the eighth time that night. Kate and Lilly were fine. They were pretending to get very far on their pretend work. Every once in a while, one would go over to the other's desk and they'd chat about past crime scenes and serial murders. Dr. Lector's name came up once or twice. Gibbs shuddered slightly as he thought of the cannibal.

The Director waltzed out of her office and straight into MTAC. Gibbs prepared himself for Tony's complaints.

"Come on! We can go now! Please!"

"Shut it, Tony. You've been complaining all night. GIVE IT A REST." Kate sighed as she threw a pen down on her desk.

"Make me." He challenged. Wrong move. Before he had a chance to draw back, Kate was at his desk ready to bitch to him about all the things he did that annoyed her: announcing how much his clothes cost, boasting about all his girlfriends, eating like a pig and just being downright annoying all the time.

Gibbs shook his head and looked back to his computer screen. She'd be walking out any minute. She was expecting a visitor. Some head of a department. Would she question where they were off to with large bags filled with various weapons? Probably. Would she try to stop them from going? Yes. Would she do the same if she were to be put in their position? Most definitely.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a gaunt man in a nice Italian suit. He nodded to Gibbs on his way up the stairs and into the Director's office. She exited MTAC and went to her meeting.

Just as the door closed, the four grabbed their bags and headed off to the elevator. Gibbs and the girls made it in first with just enough room.

"Make room! I'm not walking down three flights of stairs."

Kate smiled and Gibbs rolled his eyes as the door closed.

"Damn." He muttered and opened the door to the stairway.

He burst through the door and ran to meet the rest of the team at the truck. Their bags were already in back.

"Jeez, DiNozzo, what took you so long?" Gibbs inquired as he walked around the truck to the driver's side. Kate and Lilly climbed in the front.

"Oh no. Not again." He whined. "I just climbed down all those stairs and now I get to be tossed around like tossed salad in the back of a truck. It's just not fair." He muttered. "Rubix?" He looked at her hopefully.

She shook her head.

"I thought we were friends!" He mocked playfully.

She giggled.

"I thought we had something special!" She raised her eyebrows at him. "No, but seriously. Do I really have to sit in the back?"

She nodded.

"You're just as bad as Kate." He complained softly as he took his seat in the back.

"I heard that!" Kate turned around and threw a plastic fork at him. "And there's your damn fork! You can stop looking for it now!"

Gibbs let one of his rare, but nice smiles appear on his face.

Now

The team is on the jet. Tony is staring out the window. Kate is asleep on Gibbs's shoulder. He appears to be asleep, but isn't really. Lilly sits next to Tony.

"Hey," She pokes him in the ribs. "Lighten up and get some sleep. Don't be a Debbie Downer."

He gives her a small smile, but says nothing. One side of the band aid on his forehead peels and hangs in his eye. He grunts as he yanks it off forcefully and throws it on the floor, revealing a good sized cut on his forehead that is still bleeding a little.

"You're gonna pick that up before we get back." She warns. She pulls out her laptop and begins to surf the internet. Suddenly, a screen pops up and the face of everyone's favorite lab rat appears on the screen.

"Hey, guys!" She smiles and waves. Tim is in the background.

"Abby, I didn't open or accept a video request…"

"I know." Abby smiles playfully. "I hacked."

"Okay, well, if I get back, you're going to update the security on this thing. Got it?"

Abby's eyes widen.

"What do you mean "_If_ I get back?" You mean "_When_ I get back," because you're not going to die. Nobody is going to die on this trip. Not Tony, not Kate, not you!"

"What about Gibbs?" The youngest agent inquires.

"He's invincible. I'm not too worried about him." She takes a sip from her Caf-Pow.

Lilly sees and says "Lucky! I meant to get one before we left, but I forgot."

Abby smirks and takes a large gulp.

"Did you hack to tell me anything or did you just want to shove the Caf-Pow in my face?"

"I hacked to send you the floor plans, silly."

"Abby, I have those."

"But I have the updated ones! And now you do too. They should be on your desktop. Tim found them." She puts her arm around his shoulders and pulls him in closer. He looks uncomfortable.

"Hey, McGeek." Tony antagonizes.

McGee glares and opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off.

"Well, we should go get some sleep. Got a long day ahead of us. See you later, guys!" Lilly closes out of the window and shuts the computer off immediately.

A few minutes pass before anyone says anything.

"You could ease up on McGee, y'know. He's a nice guy." She says with her eyes closed, trying to fall asleep.

Tony rolls his eyes. "Sure, he's a nice guy! But he's a geek! A geek that should be made fun of at every opportunity. When we were split up…he missed it."

Lilly's eyelids open, revealing her grey eyes, though they're hard to see under the dark hair that hangs in her face.

"When were you split up?"

"Oh, a few months ago. Kate was sent back to Air Force One, Probie got to lead his own army of nerds, Ziva went back to Israel and yours truly was sent to the USS Ronald Reagan. Awful. Director finally put us back together, though. I couldn't have lasted any longer on that death trap." He complains.

"I assume you're not really a boat person."

He shakes his head no.

She laughs. "Good night, Anthony." And she turns out the overhead light and drifts off to sleep.

A/N: I almost forgot to mention that Dr. Hannibal Lector is owned by Thomas Harris (I'd assume because he wrote the books) and appears in the books (and movies): Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Hannibal Rising.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to their rightful owners, blah blah blah.

A/N: This was originally going to be the second to last chapter, but not anymore. This is the last, hope you enjoyed.

Everything that happened between this chapter and the chapter before is in chapter one. Refer back to that for any questions.

Also, I'm sorry for the lack of Kibbs, I tried to throw in a few small things, but in the end, I sort of chickened out. I'm working on it, though so….yes. There's something at the end that might make you happy? I'm sorry if I disappointed you.

Chapter Nine

For once Tony did not complain about sitting in the back. He didn't whine every time they took a turn…probably because Kate was driving this time. He could take her driving. He didn't complain about feeling lonesome. Mostly because he wasn't.

He looks down at the figure lying down in the space she found between the crime scene kits and whatnot. She's asleep; Tony can tell because her breathing is even. Either that or she's pretending…you could never tell with her. He looked her over once again.

Her left eye was swollen shut, the rest of her face was bruised and she had various injuries on her arms, legs and back. Not to mention the malnutrition and dehydration. He winced a little every time he looked at her. She was in pretty bad shape.

The van took a sharp turn, causing a box to dislodge itself from who knows where. Thankfully, Tony catches it before it hits Ziva. His face appears in the little window up front.

"Hey! Be careful. I'm sure Ziva doesn't want to be rescued by terrorists and brought back to the United States just to die on her way back home because of your shitty driving."

Gibbs turns around and slams the window shut.

Tony takes his seat again and continues to watch Ziva.

"Do not get mad at Kate." Ziva says quietly.

"Just trying to watch out for you."He answers as he helps her sit up. There more room now and they can stretch their legs a bit more. "We're almost there. Ducky'll bandage you up and you'll be as good as new. Don't worry, you'll be fine. You're with us now."

Ziva smiles as she tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"I…I am sorry."

"For what?" He asks.

Ziva looks away. "For back in Israel. For everything. I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry I hurt you."

He shrugs. "It's fine."

"You were right."

He knows she's talking about Michael.

"You should sleep." He recommends.

"I slept the whole ride back. Is that not long enough?" She smiles playfully. "And who is that in the front seat? The one with the silly hat? Is she my replacement?"

They hear a muffled "I heard that!" through the glass.

"That's Rubix."

"Rubix…?" Ziva questions. "That is an odd name."

"Oh and Ziva isn't?"

"Not in my country."

"Well we're not in _your country_." He retorts. "Plus, her real name's Lilly. She's Kate's cousin."

"I did not know Kate had a cousin."

"Yeah, neither did we."

"She did not talk about her."

"She didn't talk about her other cousins, her derranged aunt or her crazy uncle." Tony makes wild gestures with his hands.

"She has a crazy uncle?" Ziva questions, wanting to know more.

As Tony begins to open his mouth to explain, the van pulls to a stop and the front doors open. Footsteps are heard outside and soon the backdoors of the van opening, spilling the bright afternoon sunshine into the back. Ziva and Tony shield their eyes until they're fully adjusted.

Ziva refuses help out of the van and walks proudly on her own beside her friends…with a slight limp of course.

"I do not have any other clothes with me." Ziva states once they're all in the elevator. "All of my clothes are in Israel along with the rest of my belongings."

The elevator goes silent.

"Kate, may I borrow some of your clothes until mine are shipped here?"

Tony turns to her excitedly. "You're staying?"

She nods and he does a little dance in the corner where he's standing.

The elevator door opens. Gibbs exits first.

Abby appears around the corner.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" She exclaims as she runs toward them. She stands there, unsure of who to hug first. Well, second. Gibbs is always first. Then usually Kate because Kate it her best friend, but she also sees that Tony is genuinely happy for once and feels like she should hug him. And Lilly. She's newest. Abby wants her to feel welcome. BUT…Ziva's back and badly hurt, so Abby figures that she should get the second hug. It's all very confusing, but finally, Abby works it all out.

McGee rounds the corner just as Abby is finished decided. He falters for a minute when he sees Ziva, but puts a smile back on his face. Ziva would want people to treat her normally. He knows that and that's what he'll do.

They hug.

"It's nice to have you back, Ziva."

"It is nice to be back, McGee."

Abby grabs Ziva's sleeve and drags her into the bullpen. Ziva smiles as she sees her desk. It's been decorated. There are pompoms of various colors attached to the corners of her desk. There is a giant pad of paper that says her name in large, black and red letters. There are bats and other strange creatures surrounding her name.

"Thank you, Abby."

"No problem. But that's not all. Tim made sure your computer has all the updates and even added some programs he thought you might like."

"Thank you, McGee."

"No problem." He blushes.

Jen is standing at the top of the stairs. Vance whispers something in her ear before she comes down and she thanks him.

"Welcome back, Ziva." She smiles.

"Thank you, Director." She always so polite…most of the time.

"Vance just got out of MTAC with your father and…" Ziva interrupts her. Maybe she's not as polite as I thought.

"I need to tell my father that I will be staying."

"He knows." Jen answers hesitantly.

"How does he know? I have not contacted him."

"He wants you to be here…permanently."

"Permanently." Ziva repeats, looking slightly hurt.

Just then, Ducky rounds the corner. He smiles cheerfully as he walks over.

"Ziva! How wonderful to see you again. You have an awful bruise on your eye, but of course, you already knew that! I saw a bruise that bad once. It was after a boxing match in Boston in 1972…" He continues on and Ziva doesn't stop him. Finally, he says "Alright, let's get you down to autopsy so I can fix you up!" They leave together.

HOURS LATER

The only lights in the bullpen are the lights from Kate and Lilly's computers. Gibbs is walking up the stairs to Jen's office. Earlier, she told him to meet her in her office…most likely to reprimand him.

Kate looks up at him and then quickly away. She's obviously jealous. Lilly smiles as she pulls out her guitar and begins to strum.

"_If you think you're seeing double, let me save you some trouble._"

Kate gives her a strange look.

"_This ain't no two for one bar in here, mister."_

Kate glares, knowing that she's talking about Gibbs. But she stays quiet for a few more lines.

"_I've had enough two timing guys who only want me 'cause they want my sister._"

"You know, that'd work except Director Shepard's not my sister, I'd never put Drain-O in her coffee and Gibbs isn't two timing me." She smirks.

Lilly puts her guitar in the case and they walk to the elevator.

"Wait, what?" the younger agent asks her cousin. Apparently the news is just sinking in.

Kate just smiles and the elevator doors close.

END.

A/N: The song used in this chapter is You Only Want Me Cause You Want My Sister by Evelyn Evelyn…which consists of Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley, I believe. And…there's not much Kibbs, but I tried! Sort of.


End file.
